


Turn And Turn Again

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Inception (2010), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-28
Updated: 2011-03-29
Packaged: 2017-10-17 08:10:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/174729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saxon brought the Toclafane to Earth and decided to rule the world with an iron fist. There are still agencies working to fight his rule, no matter what it takes.</p><p>A gift for fae_boleyn for the Poly Exchange, using her kink meme prompt: <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/inception_kink/13659.html?thread=30400603#t30400603">Eames is a Torchwood agent, Arthur's a UNIT soldier, and Ariadne's an agent from America's version of Torchwood (the name of that agency is up to you, but it should not be called Torchwood America or Torchwood anything). They have to work together on a case, and sparks fly.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gathering Assets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fae_boleyn](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fae_boleyn).



"I don't need your help," Arthur groused, looking at Eames. He adjusted the red beret on his head and indicated his gun and insignia. "UNIT has this all under control. We don't need Torchwood."

"I should remind you that anything alien falls under the purview of Torchwood," Eames said imperiously. 'I know your superiors have dealt with Yvonne Hartman before," he began, ignoring Arthur's "Odious woman" only because he shared the sentiment. "Whatever you did to draw the short straw for this, I'm sure it was brilliant. But you're stuck with me. Obviously the Toclafane are alien, so obviously Torchwood is involved."

"This is somehow the Doctor's fault, I'm sure," Arthur muttered, shaking his head. "We saw the transmission."

"Well, bully for you," Eames replied in his falsest sincere voice. He checked the time on his pocket watch. "Well, I do believe the American expert is due to arrive soon. Ariadne, was it?"

Arthur scowled at Eames and kept his hand on his weapon. "Assuming she made it at all. It's gotten difficult to smuggle people through the border patrols."

"Martha Jones does it," Eames pointed out.

He gave the Torchwood One agent a look of shocked respect. "You know her, then?"

"She used the bloody Osterhagen Key. Hard to miss."

Arthur fell silent as an army issue truck approached. The driver wore the red beret of all UNIT officers. He noted that Eames' demeanor changed instantly to one of alertness. At least he wasn't an idiot. Arthur had been working with UNIT for seven years now, and he excelled in this kind of atmosphere. It was regimented and precise, and all officers knew their role to play. His now was to be the liaison officer to the American science team, led by Ariadne. He had assumed, like most of UNIT, that it was a code name for the team. It was too idiosyncratic and mythological a name to belong to an actual person.

Arthur had worked with Eames before, as he had all sorts of contacts that UNIT sometimes needed but didn't want to cultivate. He had worked his way up in the organization; following the death of Yvonne Hartman as well as the majority of Torchwood One command in the Canary Wharf incident, Eames was left as fourth in command. Arthur had worked his way up in the UNIT ranks as well, so they interacted often. Arthur would never admit it, even under torture, but he enjoyed the verbal sparring. His fellow officers and soldiers were _too_ disciplined for that, especially now.

"Know that bloke _personally?"_ Eames asked, knowing it would needle Arthur. He got frustrated so easily when protocol was breached. Eames would never have advanced so far with Yvonne Hartman in charge, since she was just as regimented. She had threatened to send him to Torchwood Three on more than one occasion, but Eames preferred London to Cardiff.

Arthur didn't bother to answer. He noticed something off about the agent in the truck, and slipped the safety strap off of his holster. Eames shut up immediately and put a hand under his suit jacket. "Come on out, Thompson," he called.

Thompson slumped forward in his seat, his face ashen gray. Arthur nodded sharply at the truck, communicating silently to Eames to cover him as he approached the truck. He stepped forward cautiously, then yanked the driver's side open. He frowned and put down his gun arm when he saw the blood all over Thompson's chest and gut. He'd been shot three times and had still driven to the meeting point. He sighed and glanced at Eames. "Go see if anyone made it."

The back of the truck was riddled with bullets. It was clear that Thompson was hovering at the edge of death, so Arthur kept his gun in hand as he looked around and reached to open the back of the truck. Eames took out his own gun, prepared to shoot.

Supply cartons were bullet ridden, and there were two dead bodies as well as three live ones. The one on the left cocked a gun and pointed it at Arthur. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. Her accept was flat like Arthur's, likely an American, then. She had caramel colored eyes, brown hair, a worn red jacket over a white blouse, yellow scarf and blue jeans. The other two women were dressed similarly, though one had black hair and one was blonde.

"Torchwood One," Eames replied as Arthur scowled.

"What's the theory of relativity?" Arthur asked instead of introducing himself. Eames looked at him oddly, but the brunette relaxed.

"Can you really get us to London?" the blonde asked tremulously. "We heard the Valiant's anchored above it..."

"London's a battleground," Arthur replied crisply. "UNIT has other safe places to do research, Ariadne," he added.

"Oh, but I'm not..."

Arthur spun around sharply when he heard a rustling from behind him. He recognized the ragtag crew behind him as a local gang of thieves and began shooting immediately. They fell quickly and cleanly. Eames followed his lead and also started shooting them down. "We need to get out of here _now._ The Black Rock gang goes after supplies and doesn't care who they kill. Come on."

He and Eames helped the three women out of the truck. The brunette put her gun away and grasped Arthur's hand to be let down. "And the driver..."

"Thompson's dead. Or close to it," Arthur told her gently. "He died doing his duty to get you all here safely."

The blonde started crying and clinging to Eames awkwardly. The one with black hair looked lost. The brunette tightened her grip on Arthur's hand and looked into his brown eyes. "The cargo was a decoy."

"I was told it was worthless," he said with a nod. "My orders are to get the team to safety, and that's what I'm going to do."

"You're Arthur?" He nodded. "Yusuf told me about you."

"How is he?" Arthur asked, smiling a little.

"Hopefully still alive."

Arthur nodded crisply. "We need all the allies we can get," he agreed. "Come on. We need to get Ariadne out of here."

The brunette frowned and the other two looked a little frightened. "They didn't tell you, did they?" At Arthur and Eames' confused looks, the brunette sighed. _"I'm_ Ariadne. They're decoys. If it comes down to it, you're supposed to save _me_ and not them."

Eames shook his head in disbelief. "Not my style, ladies. We're saving you all."

Ariadne looked at him in approval. "And you, Arthur?"

"My orders are to get Ariadne to UNIT labs. They never said how," Arthur told them with a shrug. "That being said, my duty is to save lives from the Toclafane. So can we _all_ go now? Before more of the gang comes?"

Grinning broadly, Ariadne nodded. "I'd love to."

***

Arthur drove the Jeep with a white knuckled grip, eyes alert for more gang members or stray Toclafane. "It's not time for the curfew, so there shouldn't be too many around," he told Ariadne, who was next to him. Eames was in the back with Lynn, the blonde, and Karen, the one with black hair. They were less nervous now that they were on the move.

"At the research lab, people were saying there's random killings and searches," Lynn began in a tremulous voice.

"They're looking for Martha," Eames said darkly.

"How do you—" Arthur began.

"UNIT isn't the only one getting transmissions. Tish has been sending out a signal whenever she can," Eames explained.

"Who's Tish?" Ariadne asked. "We never heard of her at NASA."

"You wouldn't," Eames told her quietly. "That's Martha's sister. Her mother was captured, too. Saxon keeps them on as serving girls, and the bastard really likes having them clean up the mess he makes of Jack Harkness."

Arthur startled. "There were reports he'd been killed on the Valiant. From what I know of him, I didn't think it was true." He shook his head. "So even Torchwood's out of commission."

"Three is on lockdown. Toshiko Sato is the genius behind the parallel networking. Don't ask me how. I talked with her, but I don't have that kind of expertise and it would waste both our time to have her explain it to me." He sighed and looked around the Jeep. "Look. Tish told me something I'm sure is classified as fuck if anyone else in Torchwood command is aware of it."

Arthur risked a glance back at him. "You're not making this up."

"Trust me. Something like this, I thought she was slipping me the mickey. But she smuggled me security footage, and it's honest to God real."

"What is it?" Ariadne asked, impatient.

"Captain Jack Harkness is immortal. He can be killed, but then he just comes back to life."

"That's... That's impossible," Arthur said after a moment. The ladies were quiet, stunned.

"Listen. I don't think anyone else knows. But Saxon's killing him at least once a day for his jollies, and makes Tish or her Mum clean up the mess because he knows Jack and Martha are friends. Saxon's a sick fuck."

"It's the Doctor, then. He must have done something," Arthur said decisively. "Or he's an alien and he's not really dead. He's part of Torchwood anyway. All you assholes seize alien shit."

Eames sighed. He had heard different variants of "bloody Torchwood" from just about every local law enforcement agency. "I do my job, Arthur, same as you," he said tiredly. "And right now, our orders coincide. That's all."

Arthur risked another glance at Eames. He did look drawn out and tired. "Look, I'm—"

"Look out!" Ariadne screeched, pointing ahead.

There were five Toclafane, moving around as if a child with a sugar rush was controlling them by remote control. They hadn't spotted the Jeep yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Fuck. We're not close enough to use the pulse beam on them," Arthur growled, eyebrows knit.

"We're in a bloody Jeep. Go off road, man!" Eames cried, smacking the back of Arthur's seat. Lynn whimpered, pointing at the windshield. They all turned to look.

The Toclafane saw them, and were starting to close in.

"Hang on and keep your head down!" Arthur shouted, reversing the Jeep. He took it off the road and headed toward the tree line. He kept his eyes on the ground ahead of him as well as the mirrors, trying to dodge the lasers when the Toclafane tried to shoot at the Jeep.

Lynn was sobbing softly, keeping her head down. Karen was rifling in a bag she had kept with her, and Eames chuckled in approval at the laser gun she pulled out. "I'm DOD," she said.

"More alphabet soup to me, love," Eames told her with a smirk.

Karen rolled down the window to her side and shot at the Toclafane with fair accuracy. The kick on the gun seemed to be almost negligible, so she didn't have to adjust her grip every few shots.

The Jeep made it to the tree line and the Toclafane slowed and stopped. "Why are they stopping?" Lynn asked tremulously.

"It means there's going to be another group ahead," Eames told her gently. "They have patrol areas." Lynn went pale and he patted her arm gently in support. "We're not down for the count yet, not to worry."

"I'm an astrophysicist. I'm not able to do anything," Lynn wailed.

"Got another gun?" Eames asked Karen. She nodded and gave him the laser gun she had been using. "Here. This is pretty smooth, no kick. Just aim and shoot. Think of it like a video game or something, if that helps."

Lynn nodded weakly as she accepted the gun. "Okay."

Arthur opened his car door. "We won't cover as much ground, but I think we need to go by foot. We need to get Ariadne to UNIT labs to start working on a way to reverse this."

Whatever Ariadne would have said in reply was drowned out by the sound of bombs in the distance. "That's London," Karen cried, her eyes growing large as she pointed toward the fireballs in the distance.

"I have another idea," Eames said quietly. "Torchwood Three. We're never going to make it to London, even if the labs are untouched. We don't have enough petrol to make it to Cardiff, but we'll at least get to Wales by curfew."

Arthur frowned and checked his ammunition. Low. "How's your Welsh?"

"Fit only for rowdy sailors," Eames told him cheerfully. "But we won't need that. They speak English just fine, you know."

"So do the Toclafane," Arthur pointed out. "We want to move in secret."

Eames threw his arm around Ariadne. "If we're just getting my lovely fiancée home..."

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "You're cute but not my type."

Arthur coughed to cover his laughter, which made Eames shoot him a dirty look. "Something in my throat," he lied. "Sorry."

"What's your type, pray tell?" Eames asked, noting that she hadn't moved his arm from her shoulders or stepped away.

"I've always been partial to a man in uniform," Ariadne said quietly, looking at Arthur. She smiled at his discomfiture and looked at the Jeep. "I guess we'd better go."

"Sooner rather than later," Lynn agreed.

They piled into the Jeep, Eames in the driver's seat. He knew the way and was just as skilled a driver as Arthur was.

Changing direction, they headed for Wales.

***

The Jeep rolled to a stop about fifty kilometers from the highway leading to Cardiff. There was no one around, and night was falling. They ran as fast they could to the nearest house. Eames knocked on the door while Arthur and Karen kept a look out for more Toclafane. They usually didn't go this deep into the country, if only because there were fewer humans to kill. It didn't mean they were safe, however. Eames wouldn't feel safe until he was inside Torchwood Three and Ariadne was completing her research.

No one answered the door and there were no lights on inside. "I'll look around back," Arthur said in a low tone. "People don't trust front doors anymore."

"Or rear entrances," Eames pointed out. Arthur looked at him oddly, then jogged around to the back of the house with Lynn.

"You like needling him, I can tell," Ariadne murmured, looking out to the street to see if anyone was following.

"Are you exes or something?" Karen asked playfully.

Eames snorted. "Oh, no. Not for lack of trying, mind you, but his focus is impossible to break, I think. Probably why UNIT always pairs him with me. Anyone else tends to cave sooner or later." He flashed them a sensual smile. "If this wasn't such a life or death situation..."

Karen laughed and patted his arm. "Equal opportunity lech, is it?"

"Why limit myself to one gender? There's something appealing about both, isn't there?"

"If you say so," Karen said with a laugh. "I only go one way, myself."

"Sh!" Ariadne hissed suddenly. "It's too quiet."

Frowning, Eames had to agree. "C'mon, you lot. Let's see what's keeping them. It can't be good."

They crept around toward the back of the house as quickly as they dared. Voices drifted toward them, Arthur's calm tones and someone's harsh voice. Eames paused at one burst of Welsh and grimaced. "I know that phrase, and it's very unpleasant. Not to mention anatomically impossible." He indicated that they should continue forward. He was in the lead, then Karen, then Ariadne. "Oi," he called out when the Welshman with the shotgun and Arthur seemed to be at an impasse. "Got a place we can hide? We're trying to get to Cardiff."

Arthur scowled at him, but kept silent. He was aware of Lynn quaking beside him; she had no firearms experience and was only used to grant application warfare before this all started. "Stay calm," he whispered to her, but she continued to tremble.

The Welshman spat on the ground. "This one said that, too," he growled in English. "Why should I believe you?"

"Look, you don't have to. Let us use a garage or barn or something. Just to hide until morning."

"Cardiff's no use to anyone."

"Still of use to Torchwood."

"Bloody Torchwood."

"Just so. We've a bloke on the Valiant, got to get his message through," Eames said in his most amiable tone. He didn't seem terribly bothered to have the shotgun aimed at his chest. "Passing through only. We don't intend to stay." He smiled at the man. "If you've got the petrol, you can have our Jeep. It's up the road a few miles back."

The expression on the man's face changed to one of terror. "You fucking fools. You've brought them here. Now we're all dead!"

"We weren't followed," Lynn began in a soothing voice, stepping forward. This startled the man, and he pulled the trigger of the shotgun as he swung it from Eames to Lynn.

The buckshot caught her right in the chest and her eyes widened almost comically in pain. Karen shot at the old man as Ariadne screamed, and he slumped to the ground.

Arthur was at Lynn's side immediately. Her right lung was shredded, and she was bleeding out at an alarming rate. She pulled out a short chain from her pocket and pressed it toward Arthur's hands. "Make this worthwhile," she gasped, blood bubbling up from her lips.

He closed his hands tightly over hers. "I will, I promise you."

Arthur closed her eyes when she died. The chain had a pair of dog tags and three flash drives on the end. He looked up at the others as he slipped the chain around his own neck and tucked the drives underneath his uniform. "He came up from the basement. I take point, you then follow how you feel comfortable. I'm not using trigger discipline," he said tightly, standing.

"What's that?" Ariadne asked, confused.

"Finger on the trigger, like Mr. Shotgun," he said, walking over to the body to take the shotgun. "He won't need it anymore," he told Ariadne. "You want it?" She shook her head, feeling ill. He nodded at her briskly, all business. "Let's go."

Arthur led the way, with Karen, Ariadne and Eames following as rear guard. Ariadne could see all of the others had their fingers on the trigger, ready to strike.

No one was in the basement. Ariadne found herself shivering as she watched Eames and Arthur check out the basement. "We were seven when we left DC," she said to no one in particular. "Only one of us died because of the Toclafane. Are we really worth saving?"

Arthur stopped what he was doing and shrugged out his jacket. He placed it around her shoulders. After a moment, he placed his red beret on her head. "All life is worth saving. This is the truth. There's horrible examples of humanity, and I'm sure there's horrible examples of alien life, too. All life is precious. All life is worth saving. Otherwise, there's no point to the universe."

Eames paused and watched Arthur chafe her hands to get the circulation going. "You really believe that, Arthur?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't have stayed in UNIT otherwise. The Brigadier traveled with the Doctor... If we get out of this mess and he's still alive, you should listen to his stories. They're inspiring."

"I wouldn't have taken you for a romantic, Arthur," he said softly. Karen sat next to Ariadne and put an arm around her. "Ladies, let us check upstairs. It's safe enough down here for now."

Eames fell into step beside Arthur. "You don't believe life is worth saving, do you?" Arthur asked him, voice sharp.

"I work with soulless pieces of shite. Maybe worked, rather. We don't know what got hit in London." He heaved a sigh. "The gene pool could use a little chlorine, I think. But as a general principle? Yeah. It's why I put up with the wankers up top. Their main thing is still 'If it's alien, it's ours.' They learned _nothing_ from the phase shift experiments, as if Cybermen didn't decimate Canary Wharf..." Eames stopped, which made Arthur pause beside him. "We need to keep them safe, Arthur." He grasped the other man's arm tightly. "We cant' know how much knowledge has been lost trying to get them this far."

"We won't fail," Arthur agreed, nodding sharply. "We'll get to Cardiff and Torchwood Three tomorrow, no matter what."

Eames nodded. "It's mostly underground, you know. So the labs should be all intact even if the top looks like a blast crater."

The rest of the house was empty as well, though breaking open a locked room revealed why. The true owners of the house had been bound and gagged, then left to starve in the locked room at the end of the first floor. The two men covered the bodies with blankets in perfect silence. With things like this happening, it was hard to remember why they were trying to save the human race.

Neither mentioned the bodies to Ariadne and Karen. They four of them used the bathroom, then huddled together in the master bedroom. There were no ribald jokes, only a somber tone as they fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

If there were Toclafane around, they left the house alone.

***  
***


	2. Sending A Signal

There was no trouble getting to Cardiff. Most of the streets were empty, even during the day. There were occasional Toclafane on patrols, but Ariadne hadn't returned Arthur's cap. Wedged in her pocket, it wouldn't draw notice of any stray Toclafane or collaborators. "You look better without it," Ariadne teased him. Arthur scowled at her, but the very tips of his ears grew pink in embarrassment at the way her eyes slid over him.

Eames led the group across the Roald Dahl Plass to a battered tourist office. The door was locked, but he broke open the window and let them all inside. He propped the door shut and began looking around.

"As far as secret lairs go, this one sucks," Karen muttered.

"I haven't actually been here, okay? I passed along notes to Toshiko and she let me know about the office if I came 'round this way. Tough time and common enemy and all that." Eames ducked behind the desk, looking around. "Never told me much more than that, I'm afraid..."

"If you brought us here for _nothing..."_ Arthur snarled threateningly, raising his gun.

"Ah! A button. This must activate a door of some kind," Eames said.

"You don't know for sure..." Karen began.

"This probably isn't a good idea..." Ariadne said.

A door behind them rolled open and a pale man with dark hair in a rumpled suit stood there with a gun. "You don't belong here," he said in a clear Welsh accent.

"Ianto Jones, I presume?" Eames asked, trying to sound pleasant. It didn't appear to be working very well. "I'm—"

"I know who you are," he said, cutting off Eames. "Tosh told me she mentioned the entrance to you. She shouldn't have."

"Listen, this is important..."

"Who are they?"

"UNIT, DOD and NASA," Eames said, shrugging at his incredulous stare. "When you've got an international problem, why not have the whole alphabet soup?"

"Get in here," the Welshman snarled. "The Toclafane have been looking for us."

"Can't imagine why," Eames replied dryly. "Given they know you're working to stop them."

"What happened to London?" Arthur asked as they passed through the large cogwheel door. "Do you know?"

The door shut behind them, and Ianto led the way down into the Hub. "At least half of it was destroyed in a raid," he told them.

"We were supposed to go there," Karen told him in a hushed tone.

"So you're Ariadne?" he asked her.

She and Ariadne exchanged glances. "What have you heard?" Karen asked. "It's not safe."

"Ariadne got her hands on a Toclafane carcass," Ianto said matter of factly. "NASA got firebombed as a result. Most of DC is gone."

"As well as half of Virginia," Ariadne said.

"Paris was eradicated for less," Ianto said softly. "And Berlin burned for its anti-Saxon propaganda. So you can never really tell how much of rumor is true."

"That one was true," Ariadne told him softly.

Ianto nodded. "Then you'll want to talk to Tosh. She'll get the word out along the networks." He smiled thinly at Arthur. "Our labs are better than UNIT's any day."

Arthur bristled but remained silent. He didn't like Ianto's smug tone.

The main area of the Hub was large, with a waterfall cascading down into it. There were offices on a raised level, as well as what looked like a raised terrarium. A lower level off to the side was covered in sterile white tile and cabinets, and a bank of computer terminals in the center was manned by a young woman of Japanese descent. "Welcome to Torchwood Three, ladies and gentlemen. We're it."

The four newcomers goggled at him. "What?" Karen asked incredulously. "But the rumors..."

"Probably were about Torchwood One," Ianto said with a shrug. "Of course, we don't know how many survived yesterday's blast."

Toshiko looked up from the computer banks. "Their signal hasn't come back online yet. It might not mean anything..."

"There should be redundancies," Eames said abruptly, a thread of desperation in his tone.

"What about UNIT?" Arthur asked in concern. He didn't understand the look that flitted over Tosh's face, but she turned away before he could figure it out. "Is _anyone_ left?"

"Perhaps Thames House," Ianto said quietly.

"It's just you two?" Ariadne asked when everyone fell silent.

"There was a whole team..." Karen began.

"Jack's on the Valiant," Tosh said after a moment in a quiet voice. "Gwen..."

"Rhys was killed in a raid," Ianto said. "She couldn't stay. She worked with a group in France when she first left, and last I heard she was in Austria."

"That's when Owen was here," Tosh added in a small voice. "Gwen said there was an outbreak there, and he went to go help. Thought he could inoculate them all. We lost track of them about a month ago."

"Hopefully it's just communication loss," Karen said. "A lot of the South lost comm and sat towers, but the people are fine."

Tosh smiled faintly. "You don't know our signals."

"So nobody's left here?"

"Saxon got thousands of codes and locations when he rose to power," Ianto said in a tight voice. "UNIT and Torchwood only lasted this long because we're outside the government." He looked at the four visitors. "Who's left in America if DC is gone?"

"There's a UNIT outpost in Atlanta, but they have no long distance comm capabilities," Karen reported, looking at Ariadne. "Dom Cobb was head of the UNIT force in Atlanta, and talked with one of the generals in London. We needed to broadcast the research we have. There were seven of us when we left Atlanta."

Ianto winced in sympathy for them. "I'm sorry."

"Dom doesn't even know about Mal," Ariadne said in a small voice. "His wife. She... We'd never have gotten on the ship if she didn't stay behind to be gunned down." She bit her lip. "And when we got here... It was supposed to be better here, because you're all still here."

"We're here and doing our part, but it's hardly better," Tosh said gently. "If anything, it's possibly worse. It started here, after all."

Ariadne found herself sinking into a chair, dazed. "How many would even hear the signal? How can we even try to stop this, then?"

"We keep going," Ianto said firmly. "We keep doing what we can."

"I have a relative in Tokyo," Tosh began, musing aloud. "Saito should be able to help boost the signal, get it out even further than I can alone. We wouldn't touch the Archangel network, since Saxon controls that. Saito has rather... underhanded connections."

Arthur frowned. "How far can your signal go?"

"Farther than UNIT ever gave me credit for," Tosh replied tersely.

"You worked for UNIT?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"No," she said sharply, turning away. "I didn't." She looked at her monitors, effectively ending any conversation with Arthur.

"We should probably start working on your information, Ariadne," Ianto said to Karen. "Break it up into easy components..."

"I'm Ariadne. Arthur has whatever Lynn was carrying when she was killed," Ariadne said tiredly. "This has been the longest week of my life."

An alarm went off in the Hub. The four newcomers jumped, but Ianto and Tosh merely looked resigned. "Looks like it's about to get longer," Ianto said with a sigh. He moved over to Tosh's workstation. "Positive or negative spike?"

"Negative spike, massive one. Probably because of yesterday's positive spike." Tosh flipped through a few windows and then looked up at Ianto. "Some Toclafane are missing."

"Good riddance," Ianto muttered.

"Is that the Rift monitor?" Eames asked, awe in his voice. The other three simply looked confused. "I heard about it, that it's a work of absolute genius to track Rift activity."

Tosh's cheeks pinked at the praise as Karen looked around. "What's this Rift you keep talking about?" Karen asked.

"There's a Rift in the fabric of the universe, so that time and space are warped. It runs right through Cardiff."

"Wait... Is that why there's always a team at UNIT looking into what happens in this city?" Arthur asked.

"Probably," Ianto replied with a shrug. "No point, since your lot won't know what to do with whatever comes through."

Arthur looked like he wanted to say something in response, but kept his mouth shut. He looked over at Ariadne. "My objective was to get Ariadne to safety so she could continue to do her work and broadcast it to the world. It could probably wait until she rested first."

She gave him a grateful smile. Ianto led them all to a different sublevel of the Hub so that they could all rest and sleep.

No one dreamed that night.

***

"Toshiko-chan," Saito said with a warm smile. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise, Uncle," Toshiko replied. "I have preliminary information regarding Toclafane anatomy from the Americans. They found a dead one and smuggled the information out of the country to broadcast."

"Ingenuity and sheer bullheadedness, I suppose," Saito said. "Most other places stopped rebelling once communications and infrastructure were cut." He looked from the video camera to his own computer. "I see it's a large data stream coming through."

"There's other data, but this is the most important batch. The American that discovered the body plans to try to do a few experiments in labs here. The one she had in the US was burned to the ground last month."

"Is that her?" Saito asked, seeing someone over Tosh's shoulder. At her nod, he seemed impressed. "She must be stronger than she looks."

"To survive in times like these, we all have to be," Tosh replied.

"Your mother arrived here safely," Saito said, abruptly shifting topic as the file transfer finished. "My cousin tells me you refused to come along."

"My place is here, Uncle. I'm coordinating signals."

"Stay safe. My influence doesn't extend that far."

"With the Toclafane, I worry about _you._ they would not respect your empire or contacts."

"Very true. I have contingency plans."

"Be well, Uncle. When we have more research, I'll transfer more data."

"Of course, Toshiko-chan. If you change your mind, let me know. You always have a home in Japan with us."

Tosh grinned at Saito. "I know. Give my best to _Okasan."_

She was still smiling after the comm line was shut down and Arthur respectfully waited to be noticed. "Oh. Did you need something from me?" she asked.

"I don't know if anyone from my department survived the blast in London," Arthur said quietly. "I don't have any orders left..."

"You do everything exactly as you're told?" Tosh asked with a sharp edge to her voice.

"Yes, within reason," Arthur replied, confused by her animosity. "It's just that with Ariadne safe here, then I should be out there destroying Toclafane."

Tosh let out a breath. This one meant well, she told herself. He knew nothing about her past, hadn't been involved in the imprisonment. "We could probably use you here, Arthur. Even Eames and Karen. There's only the two of us left, and there's a lot to do. Getting information out there is only one tool."

"Martha's out there," Arthur said confidently, a slight smile on his face. "She traveled with the Doctor. She's doing her part, too."

Smiling faintly, Tosh nodded. "We all do our part. The Toclafane can't be everywhere, and eventually we'll get to the Valiant."

Arthur smiled at her, and she got the sense that he really was as good natured as he initially appeared. "We'll take our world back, I'm sure of it."

Five days later, they heard that Japan was burned to the ground.

Tosh was inconsolable and retreated to her room for the rest of the day. Ianto went to check on her, leaving the other four to themselves. Karen went after them to ask how she could help, and Ianto had her monitoring the Rift alarm while he stayed with Tosh, holding her as she cried. The others stayed mostly out of their way, letting Tosh grieve.

Eames seemed at a loss after expressing his condolences and went on a cleaning spree. Feeling out of sorts, Arthur went looking for Ariadne. She had been ensconced in research since their arrival, and Arthur hadn't seen her all that day. He started in the conference room she used as a visual arts lab, using some of the Mainframe's impressive computer processing to run different scenarios to defeat the Toclafane. She wasn't at the desk or manipulating the virtual Toclafane image as if floated over the table.

He found her sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest as she sobbed. Arthur knelt beside her. "Ariadne?"

"This is my fault," she sobbed. "Japan wouldn't be burning if not for me."

He cupped her face in his hands. "If not for you, then for another reason. Saxon's crazy. He doesn't need a reason. He does it just because he can," Arthur told her gently. "This isn't your fault, Ariadne," he continued, pulling her into a hug. "This _isn't_ your fault."

She sobbed, clutching hold of him tightly. She buried her face in his neck, inhaling the scent of him deeply. He stroked her back and held her as she calmed down slowly. When she pulled back to thank him, somehow their mouths met in a kiss. It was soft and gentle, and Ariadne deepened it. Arthur's hands slid down her back, holding her close as her tongue slid into his mouth. She shifted position, her hands on his shoulders for balance. Not even pausing for breath, Ariadne pulled his shirt out of his pants and ran her hands along the bare skin of his back, making a soft humming noise deep in her throat. Following her lead, Arthur started to pull at her clothes.

Arthur kissed her neck and palmed her bared breasts. Ariadne moaned softly, falling onto her back as she lost her balance. He slid a hand between her thighs, making her gasp, and bent his head to suck on a breast. Ariadne whimpered and moaned beneath him, thighs wide open and trembling as he worked to one orgasm after another. When she was slick and slippery enough for three fingers inside her, Arthur shifted position to drive deep into her. Ariadne arched against him, nearly wailing, pulling him closer so that his strokes were full and thick inside her. Her entire body shook beneath his. She cried out with the force of her orgasm, tightening and making him come as well.

Tangled together, Ariadne was partly horrified with herself but too satisfied to care. She had never been easy before, but good God, that was the best sex she'd ever had. Carding her fingers through Arthur's hair, she smiled and willed her breathing to return to normal. He lifted his head to look at her, a tender expression on his face. "You okay?"

"More than okay."

Arthur turned his head abruptly and glowered at Eames, who was watching in the doorway. Ariadne followed his line of vision and flushed to the roots of her hair. "Oh, dear God."

"I heard noises," Eames said lamely, unable to take his eyes off of them. They both could see he was aroused from watching them, and making no move to leave.

"You could have looked away," Arthur snarled.

"Why?" he asked, genuinely puzzled. "You're both so goddamn beautiful, it was exquisite to watch." He flashed them a playful grin. "Maybe next time you'll ask me to join you."

Ariadne covered her face in her hands and watched Eames saunter away through her spread fingers. He presumably was going to take care of that erection tenting his trousers. "This isn't like me at all."

Arthur pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Me, either, but I can't be sorry." He flashed her a charming grin.

They disentangled themselves and Ariadne was shy as she got dressed again. She did feel better, the memory of his fevered touch still burned into her skin. His kisses had been heady, and she leaned in quickly to press her lips against his. Arthur grasped her by the back of her head and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

Breathless, they simply stared at each other for a long moment. This wasn't like her, but she was glad it had happened. His touch was reverent and gentle. "Don't worry about him, all right? I'll make sure he won't poke fun at you." He shot her a wry look. "Trust me, I know how bad he can get. I won't let him needle you that way." Ariadne smiled shyly and Arthur couldn't resist kissing her again.

As she tried to resume her prior research, Arthur went off in search of Eames. Karen was still busy with Mainframe and had no idea where Eames had gone. Arthur found him in the greenhouse, sprawled across an armchair with a hand loose around his spent cock. "Oh, for God's sake," Arthur groaned, turning away from the sight.

"Missed the show, darling," Eames replied easily, a lighthearted note to his voice. "Give me a few, and I can give you a repeat performance," he said cheekily. "Bring Ariadne and it'll be loads of fun all around."

Arthur growled at Eames. "Will you shut up?" He turned to glare at Eames. "Jesus Christ, will you zip up?"

"Oh, if I must," Eames replied in a put upon tone of voice. "You're being an awful stick in the mud," he said with a sigh.

"Leave Ariadne alone," Arthur threatened. "I won't have you harassing her." He actually looked forbidding as he glared at Eames with his eyes flashing and jaw clenched tight. Eames didn't doubt for a second that Arthur would shoot him to protect Ariadne's virtue.

"Arthur, the last thing I want to do is harm Ariadne," Eames replied honestly. "Just because I pull your metaphorical pigtails doesn't mean I hate you, either. Do you have so little imagination?"

Red-faced, Arthur could only sputter. "You... You're..."

"All you're missing is that red cap," Eames told him conversationally, "and you'd be absolutely _delicious."_ He grinned and stood, stretching. Giving Arthur a confident grin, he sidled past him to leave the greenhouse. "I do know the delectable Ariadne agrees with me."

Flabbergasted, Arthur watched him leave without another word.

***

Ariadne quietly moved into Arthur's room. It was incredibly forward of her; they had only known each other for two weeks before sleeping together, but it felt right. He held her as she slept, arms tight and protective. Eames didn't make any terribly embarrassing comments in front of the others, though he did flirt shamelessly with her. That he knew she and Arthur were together didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He flirted with Arthur, too, which set him off sometimes. She didn't know how she felt about that, but it didn't bother her as much as it seemed to bother Arthur.

Ariadne found a voltage high enough to penetrate the Toclafane shielding, though it simply seemed to be a question of trying it out on the real thing. Tosh slowly came out of her quiet shell and seemed to bond with Karen pretty well. The two talked about computers, various tech cobbled together in the Hub and the relative merits of the three men with them. They didn't really include Ariadne in the girl talk, but she didn't really make an effort to join in, either. She still felt too guilty; most of the team leaving the US had died because of her and Japan burned because of her research. Ariadne didn't want anyone else to die in her name.

"There's word in Africa about the voltage," Eames reported one afternoon. "So Ariadne's voltage hypothesis is correct. Give it enough juice, it overwhelms their shields and fries them, nice and toasty. Works better than any of the drug concoctions you've dreamed up so far."

Ariadne flashed him a grateful smile. "Thanks. At least I know the research was worthwhile."

Eames kissed her full on the mouth, his broad hands spread across her back. She pulled away, wide eyed and shocked. "Eames..."

"I'm attracted, I admit it. Aren't you?" he murmured.

"You... I thought you were joking," she said weakly, pulling back. "You tease Arthur, too..."

"Well, you're _both_ delightfully attractive," Eames told her with a grin. His hand slid down to the small of her back, and it was almost frightening how comfortable his touch was. "I know you're a solid item with our dear, formal Arthur. I simply propose _adding_ to that."

 _"Three's a crowd, Eames," Arthur said sourly from behind them. Ariadne had a guilty look on her face, but Eames grinned at him, unrepentant. "Let go of her."_

 _"You say that as if I was intending to hurt her," Eames said, shifting his hips to press them firmly against Ariadne's. He could almost feel her arousal build. "On the contrary, I have only the best of intentions toward either of you."_

 _Arthur was nearly snarling at him when he came closer, and Eames pulled him in for a lusty kiss anyway. Arthur made a choking noise as he tried to pull back. He could hear Ariadne's gasp, but it was the same gasp of surprised arousal she had when he slid his hands inside her panties at night. "Life's too short for labels or recriminations, Arthur," Eames murmured when he broke the kiss to nuzzle Arthur's jaw. "Just a good time to celebrate that we're all still alive, yeah? We're here figuring things out, Martha's doing her thing and the Resistance is still alive and well all over the world."_

 _"I'm not into men," Arthur told him with a frown, not quite pulling away._

 _"So? It's not the bits that matter, Arthur. Haven't you been listening?" Eames turned and kissed Ariadne on the mouth, his hand still at the small of her back. His other was around Arthur, and he moved to cup his ass gently. "Let go, Arthur. Relax a little. Time enough to worry later."_

 _As much as Arthur almost wanted to run, there was something almost vulnerable and hopeful in Eames' expression. He opened his mouth and then shut it, looking at Ariadne. She looked almost expectant and maybe a little intrigued, but was waiting for him to decide. They hadn't used the L word at all for fear of jinxing what they had, but Arthur was aware that they both felt it._

 _"Just this once," he found himself saying._

 _Eames' grin was brilliant before he seized Arthur's mouth in a kiss and slid his hand down to the back of Ariadne's jeans. His tongue glided over Arthur's and he pulled back with a smile, looking all around the conference room. "Shall we start by pleasuring our darling Ariadne?" he asked._

 _Somehow their clothes were scattered across the floor. Ariadne was flat on her back, Eames kissing her with reckless abandon and Arthur was between her legs worshipping her with his mouth and fingers. Eames tongue on hers muffled her cries, and he pulled at her nipples playfully, making her cry out in pleasure. She writhed beneath the both of them, panting and moaning. "Want to switch?" Arthur asked after the first orgasm, his fingers still buried deeply inside of her._

 _Eames nodded enthusiastically and pulled Arthur close. He kissed him, licking the taste of her out of his mouth. "Mm. Delicious," he murmured before bending down to taste her for himself. His style was different, a little more aggressive, his tongue sliding deep as his fingers probed her folds. Ariadne cried out as they moved over her, and she came with a desperate cry. "I want to fuck you," he growled against her thigh, looking up at them. "Both of you, repeatedly and creatively. Just once won't be enough."_

 _Arthur didn't know how to answer, so he simply watched Eames thrust his thick fingers into Ariadne. She grasped hold of Arthur, palming his errection. "I need you," he groaned, his attention back on her._

 _"How about Arthur first, love?" Eames asked, crooking his fingers and pressing his lips to the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. He figured there was time enough later to figure out the logistics for future sessions. Ariadne cried out again, and he withdrew his fingers. He licked them sensuously as Arthur positioned himself over her, then stretched out beside them both as Arthur slid home. He nipped at her earlobe and jaw as Arthur thrust deep and hard, his fingers tracing circles around her peaked nipples. Ariadne had one hand on Arthur's hip, the other on Eames' shoulder to keep him close. She shuddered under the onslaught of pleasure, groaning and unable to say more than "More" or "Oh God, yes."_

 _She came hard, tightening around Arthur and making him come as well. He didn't move for a moment, too sensitive and breathless. Eames rose to his knees, his cock aching to be inside Ariadne. He grasped Arthur's hips, startling the slender man. Eames pressed his lips to his shoulder. "My turn, hm?"_

 _With difficulty, Arthur withdrew and watched as Eames slid inside of Ariade with a hearty groan of pleasure. "Oh, _fuck,_ darling, you're _exquisite,"_ he moaned, his head thrown back. He grasped her hips and pumped hard and fast, desperate and growling. Ariadne drew her legs up high around his waist, panting hard as her body shook. Her hands were linked with Arthur's, and her eyes rolled back. Arthur kissed her hard, tongue in her mouth. She tightened and Eames hissed at the sensation. He came, spilling deep inside._

Eames collapsed on top of her, cradling her gently with one arm and grasping Arthur's hand tightly with the other. This was one good thing to come from the invasion, he thought. As he brought Arthur's hand up to his lips, he knew he didn't want to give this up for anything. It was a frightening feeling; he had never cared so deeply for anyone before.

Arthur must have seen it in his eyes, because he seemed almost uncomfortable. "Eames..."

He pressed his lips to Arthur's knuckles and then Ariadne's temple. "This changes nothing, you know. Not in the grand scheme of things."

"How do you figure that one?" Arthur asked. "This changes everything between us now."

"Not for me, it doesn't," Eames drawled. Ariadne blinked at him in surprise. "Not my fault if neither of you saw it before."

She ran her fingertips across his shoulder. "I thought you were teasing."

Eames shook his head. "Terribly serious." He kissed her soundly, then pulled Arthur closer until their mouths crashed together. "This was always what I'd hoped for." His smile was sensuous and rakish at once. "And really, you get twice the bodyguards at night, making sure your research goes well."

Ariadne blushed. "Eames..."

He licked his lips then rolled off of her, onto the side opposite Arthur. "You're the important one, love. We're hired muscle, more or less. As much as I hope you consider us irreplaceable, in the grand scheme of things, _you_ are the valuable one."

She shot them a troubled look. "You're not replaceable, either of you." She wanted to protest that she wasn't that important, but it would be a lie. "Don't talk like that."

Arthur's hand rested over her stomach as he leaned in to kiss her temple. "I for one am not going anywhere, Ariadne. I promised to protect you and I will. For as long as you need me, whatever it takes."

Eames might not have made a formal statement, but Ariadne knew he was just as committed. She felt a little strange to have two men in her bed. Did people do that sort of thing? But it felt natural, as if there really was no other outcome.

Then again, times were strange now. Normal had changed drastically. No reason for this to be so awkward now.

"I've been working on something to broadcast the frequency that the Toclafane are sensitive to. We can't shock all of them with a power line or lightning, but maybe dampening their shields will help."

"Brilliant," Eames declared with a grin.

"What's the catch?" Arthur asked, catching her hesitant expression.

"Well, anything I'd broadcast from here is fairly limited. I could take out England and Wales, maybe France. It won't get everywhere else."

"You need a bigger broadcast tower," Eames guessed.

"You need the source," Arthur corrected. "You'd need to hijack the communications center of the Valiant and use the Archangel Network."

"Are you _mad?"_ Eames exclaimed, sitting up abruptly.

"It's the only way to get them all at once," Ariadne whispered, eyes wide and tone frightened.

So far, anyone going to the Valiant never returned. It was a one way trip, and they all knew it.

"Ariadne..." Arthur began, concern in his voice.

"It's a moot point until I get a functional machine that's easy to carry. And I'd still have to test it first, to be absolutely sure it worked." Ariadne shivered as she sat up. This was possibly the worst timing for this conversation, but it needed to be said. "This was why I left the US for labs here. This is why everyone on the team died. I can't let them die in vain."

"Then we go with you," Arthur murmured, sliding a hand along her back in a protective gesture. "You don't go alone."

Ariadne was relieved and troubled at once. "But..."

"They assigned me because I'm expendable," Arthur admitted quietly. "No one to mourn me if something happened. And because no one else could stand him flirting all the time," he added, pointing at Eames.

Eames merely laughed. "I volunteered since the Toclafane killed my Gran and Mum. I haven't any other family now. You two are likely the only ones that would mourn me if I passed."

It was delivered in an amused tone of voice, but Ariadne still felt incredibly sad for him. For them both, really.

"I still have experiments to do," Ariadne told them. "And I'm not suicidal."

"Good to hear," Eames replied as Arthur kissed her shoulder tenderly. "Now that we've finally started this thing, I'd hate to see it end too soon."

"What's too soon?" Ariadne asked, curious.

"Anything short of forever," Eames replied, then claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss.

It was definitely the end of the world; Arthur agreed with Eames wholeheartedly.

***  
***


	3. The Valiant

"You're awfully chummy with those guards of yours," Karen commented as she soldered a piece of casing according to Tosh's direction. Tosh herself was silent, but she was definitely watching her response closely.

Ariadne managed not to blush. "Is it a problem?"

"Just an observation," Karen replied, shrugging. "Hard to miss, you know?"

Six people in the Hub, and they rarely went above ground. Yes, Ariadne knew what Karen was walking about. There was a bedroom with a large enough bed for the three of them that they shared now, and that had to be another obvious clue.

"Not something I planned," Ariadne said quietly. She looked down at her workstation, where she had listed all the things her machine would have to do. Tosh had drawn up the design and Karen was helping her to build it. Ianto was out taking care of Weevils, whatever they were. Eames was helping him and Arthur was doing a supply run. This was one of the few times that the women were alone together.

"We're not judging you," Tosh told her in a serious tone. She was much more somber these days, and Ariadne couldn't blame her. "It's good that you can take comfort where you can."

Ariadne almost wanted to ask if Tosh was with Ianto or Karen. Or both, considering her own situation, but she didn't know Tosh well enough for that. For all that they have all been living together for months, Ariadne hadn't gotten close to her. "They won't let me go to the Valiant alone," she said instead. "I almost wish they would."

"Selfish of you," Karen murmured. "They care a lot about you and it's almost cruel to leave them behind, worrying like that."

Ariadne frowned at her. "Everyone says I'm so important, but..."

"But nothing," Tosh said firmly. "You're the one that studied these things. You're developing the countermeasures for them."

"With your help," Ariadne pointed out. "And I'm doing what anyone else would do."

"But no one else has," Tosh returned. "If they had the know-how, they weren't working on it. Or not sharing. You're important _because_ you're doing this. _Because_ you're working on this and because you're going to share it with the world."

"Someone has to do what's right..."

"You'd be amazed how many have forgotten that," Tosh told her quietly. "You still believe in your ideals. They haven't broken you."

"Well, this is all a moot point if I don't have one to try the prototype on," Ariadne muttered, discomfited by her serious tone.

"I have the data pulled from Africa regarding their trials and fallen Toclafane. I've updated the computer models, so it should work well enough for field trials."

"Thank you."

Tosh merely nodded, and they worked in silence for a while. Karen waited until Ariadne left to try the device in simulation. "Do you really think it'll work? Or will they all be going up to their deaths up there?"

"She has good ideas," Tosh replied, clearing her workstation of equipment they had used to build the prototype. "That machine will do exactly what she wants it to do."

"I sense a but in there somewhere," Karen observed.

"The Valiant crew works for Saxon now. They aren't stupid. They'll know what happens as soon as she turns it on."

"So they're as good as dead up there."

"Unless they have somewhere else to look."

Karen took in Tosh's quiet tone and resigned expression. "Tosh, what have you done?"

"They'll think it's a relay. They'll trace an outgoing signal, so they won't think to monitor their own internal network."

"And where will the signal go? Please say Japan..."

"Here."

Karen flinched. "Tosh, that's suicide."

"Maybe, maybe not. The Hub is deep. I haven't explored how far down the Archives go. Ianto might know. If Saxon torches to Plass or all of Cardiff, there's still a chance for me."

"You'd send me and Ianto away, is that the plan?"

"Something like that. Unless you want to stay and take your chances here in the Hub with me."

Karen scrubbed her face tiredly. "If you do this, will it work?"

"Her logic is sound and I have the tech to make it work."

Reaching across the table to grasp Tosh's hand, Karen smiled gently. "Well, I suppose we can stock supplies and tools to dig ourselves out, right?"

Tosh laughed a little. "We can always try."

Neither woman really believed they would survive an assault on the Hub, and neither were going to tell Ariadne. She had enough to worry about.

***

Ariadne stared at the simulation results. It was a 99% success rate. The apparatus Tosh built was about the size of two stacked cereal boxes, but fairly light. The important part was that it _worked._ it wasn't just theory, if the model was right. She could help end this, make a concerted attack across the globe and free humanity.

She felt almost giddy, like when results from Mars probes came back with evidence of microscopic life in Mars' distant past. That was just the sort of thing that was a xenobiologist's wet dream.

She left the lab to tell Tosh about the results, a wide grin on her face. Tosh had said it would be easy enough to miniaturize the box if it worked. She hadn't done it right off the bat only because it was easier to fix the wiring in a larger box if the settings were off.

While she was gushing with Tosh, Karen and Arthur, Ianto and Eames returned with various supplies for that week's supply run. Eames had also tried to contact various other people he had known in London. There had been some unease in the rumors Tosh had picked up; Eames figured his less savory contacts would know the full story.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, picking up on their unease immediately.

"London," Eames began in hushed tones. He was unable to say more.

All eyes turned to Ianto. "Saxon's men caught Martha Jones. They're bringing her and some kind of weapon to the Valiant."

Ariadne took a deep breath. "Then ready or not, we're going to the Valiant."

***

They had hoped Eames' sources were wrong, but it was confirmed by various news feeds. Saxon was gloating that he had finally caught the traitorous Martha Jones, and he planned to publicize the confrontation. They hadn't been sure how the three of them would get up to the Valiant, but Arthur had been planning ahead for that part of the plan.

Tosh forged credentials for the three of them to get aboard a supply ship heading to the Valiant. Keeping that large a ship over London required a lot of fuel, especially after bombing or firing on a city. The three of them walked onto a supply ship boldly, Ariadne carrying the device in a messenger bag. It was light but bulky, and they had to move fast once aboard. Arthur knew the Valiant; he had been station there for three months prior to his reassignment as Eames' watchdog after the Canary Wharf incident.

Once aboard, the three of them slipped away during the unloading of supplies. Most of the lowest levels of the Valiant held no guards, so it was safe enough to move at a rapid pace. Saxon was arrogant enough to believe that he held the loyalty of everyone on the ship, if only out of fear and self preservation.

This also meant that workers minded their own business really, really well.

"I don't like this," Ariadne whispered, clutching Arthur's hand tightly as she stared at Eames. "It's too quiet."

"Let's attach that device and get the hell out of here."

Agreeing, Ariadne followed the instructions Tosh had given her to attach and activate it. Once Tosh knew it was active, she would broadcast messages that would relay the information worldwide so others could take down their local delegations of Toclafane.

"Let's go," Arthur said as Ariadne double checked her work. He looked nervous; all he had was a single Glock 17 he was able to hide on his person. Eames had his Sig Sauer. Ariadne had a knife. If armed guards came, they were all dead.

"Where are they?" Eames asked, looking around cautiously. He didn't want to question his luck too much, but this made him anxious.

"I'll get us out of here," Arthur promised.

The others didn't question him. He hoped he hadn't just lied to them.

Though there was no obvious threat, they were still on edge. This was Saxon's territory, after all. He'd been the boogeyman for the entire planet over the past year. It was hard to shake that.

Arthur led them through a dizzying maze of corridors. They weren't going out the same way they came in; the supply ship would long since be gone. The plan was to take one of the smaller two seat scout crafts in the hangar; Arthur could fly it, and Ariadne was small enough to sit in Eames' lap in the back. Unfortunately, there were more guards and personnel in the hangar. Arthur pulled back and ducked down a side hallway. "Dammit. Too many in there."

"What do we do?" Ariadne asked, panic rising.

"There has to be another way out. Or another, less direct way to that hangar," Eames prodded.

Arthur ran through his mental image of the Valiant, looking around them to see exactly where they were. "Yeah," he said finally, feeling Ariadne's relief. "Through the prisoner barracks. We'd be on the far side of the hangar."

"Prisoner barracks," Eames repeated, face carefully neutral and devoid of emotion.

"There will be guards," Ariadne whispered.

"Maybe, but not clustered all together at once," Arthur reasoned. "We can't shoot our way through that," he said, indicating the route to the hangar that they couldn't use.

"Not unless we want to turn our brains to scrambled egg," Eames replied. "I've only one clip."

"Prisoner barracks it is, then," Arthur said grimly, changing direction.

They kept to doorways and abandoned hallways, sometimes having to reverse direction to keep out of sight. They weren't quite to the prisoner barracks yet, and Eames wanted to release whoever they found. It would confuse the guards, which might enable them to escape. They had to conserve bullets, after all.

Most of the actual cells were empty. Ariadne was confused, while the two men were grim. "But I don't understand," she began softly. "The reports all said that Saxon took prisoners. He took dozens of them. Or even hundreds. Where are they?"

Eames slid an arm around her waist as Arthur shook his head and touched her shoulder. "He wouldn't have a reason to keep them, Ariadne. They're not valuable to him here, only to the ones on the ground."

"And only Jack Harkness can come back from what Saxon does to them," Eames added.

She was deathly pale once she understood. "He can't find us," she whispered. "We'd be killed."

"Exactly. I'd take my chances on the ground," Eames said.

In another hallway, they pulled back when they heard voices. It sounded almost like Saxon himself. Creeping forward cautiously, they tried to listen in. he was leaving a cell with a lovely young black woman in a French maid outfit beside him, complete with frilly white apron. "I'd love to stay longer, Captain," he was saying to the cell's occupant, "but I've urgent business with Tish's sister." He laughed, sounding almost manic as Tish stood beside him with her jaws clenched and hands loose at her sides. Saxon turned to her, a vicious expression on his face. "You'll clean _her_ cell once I'm done with her, too."

He strode off, Tish beside him. There were no guards in sight. Saxon was secure enough about this particular Captain that he didn't need them.

"He must be important," Ariadne whispered. "Captain of an army, maybe?"

"Only one way to find out," Eames replied, striding forward despite Arthur's hissed protest.

Ariadne covered her nose as soon as she stepped into the room behind Eames. Arthur was behind her. The stench was unbearable; it was blood, feces, urine, rot and death, thick and heavy as a cloud in the room. "Dear God," she moaned. She could see dark stains on the grates in the floor, as well as rotted lumps that her mind simply refused to resolve into human intestines.

Arthur held her close as Eames stepped forward. The chained figure across from them had bloodstains all over his chest and arms, with splashes along his legs. He gave a great, shuddering breath, then looked up warily. "I didn't think the calvary would be so squeamish."

"Captain Jack Harkness," Eames began slowly, picking his way across the room, avoiding the gory debris on the floor. "I was hoping we'd find you."

"I do hope you're planning to let me down and not torture me," he said with a nod. "Five rounds before lunch takes a lot out of a guy."

Ariadne let out a soft, dismayed sound and buried her face against Arthur's chest. Eames couldn't find any key to let Jack down. "There's a control panel," Arthur said, pointing as best as he could while still holding Ariadne.

The panel controlled the chains, and Eames helped Jack to his feet after introducing the three of them. "Good thing you have those amazing healing powers," he said dryly.

"That's one way to put it," Jack said with a straight face. "I don't suppose you know where my things are?" Eames shook his head. "Pity. I miss my Webley."

"We're getting off this ship," Arthur told them. "We're on our way to the hangar. You can come with us."

Jack shook his head. "They have Martha."

"We know. That's why we got on board. They wouldn't pay us as much attention while we altered their communications," Ariadne told him.

Frowning, Jack looked at her closely. "Altering their communications?"

"We changed the Toclafane shielding frequency. People can kill them now," Ariadne said in a small voice, avoiding looking at the floor or blood on Jack's chest.

"Martha and the Doctor had a plan, I know it. I wouldn't have given her my vortex manipulator otherwise," Jacks said.

"We need to get off this ship," Arthur insisted. "Saxon's goons can't find us here."

Jack scrubbed at his face wearily. "You don't understand. The Toclafane aren't aliens. They're humans. They're all that's left of humanity at the end of the Universe. Saxon created a paradox machine to keep them here. It's not a question of killing them. If we take apart the paradox machine, _everything_ goes back to the way it was. This never happened. The Toclafane don't come back, all the people that died never did..."

The three others looked between themselves. "We wouldn't have met," she murmured in a pained voice.

Jack looked at them in sympathy, recognizing the look on her face. "Sometimes if you're part of the paradox, you don't lose anything." He looked behind him, taking in the chains and blood. "Might be nice to have that, though."

"Come on," Eames said firmly.

Arthur nodded and rubbed Ariadne's back in support. "We'll do what needs to be done. That's why we're here."

Ariadne nodded and took a great breath. "If it brings everyone back, we've got to try."

Grinning at the trio, Jack nodded as well. "Then let's go find that machine Saxon built."

***

Having been under torture for a year, Jack didn't trust in Saxon's good will. He planned to destroy the paradox machine, hoping everything would be undone. He had nothing that could be used as a weapon, but he was determined. Arthur and Eames had the guns and Ariadne was much calmer now that there wasn't a thick coating of gore everywhere around her. The four of them raced through the halls, Jack in the lead. He knew where it was, and was more than willing to destroy anything in their path.

The others only saw an old blue police box, wires running in and out of it into a different box. It was humming, seeming to modulate power directly into the Valiant's engines.

"This is it. The entire Valiant is sending the signal across the globe. We destroy this, we undo everything Saxon's done in the past year," Jack said, something hard and painful in his voice. Without questioning him, the others began to pull at the wires. Ariadne used her knife to pry the panels off of the box. She cut everything inside, sparks flying. There was a high pitched whining sound, and Eames cried out in warning. Jack threw himself over Ariadne, protecting her from flying debris. A large metal shard exploded out of the paradox machine, burying itself deeply into Jack's back.

"God, I'm so sorry... I didn't even think..." Ariadne began.

"I'll be fine," Jack answered, forcing himself to sit up and pull the shard out. He needed Ariadne's help to get it out of his back. "There. The paradox field will start collapsing. You can head out."

"You're hurt," Ariadne began. It was one thing to hear this man could come back from the dead, but she didn't quite believe it.

"Come on," Arthur said, hauling them both to their feet. "You need help getting out of here," he said to Jack. "We'll split up once we're back on the ground."

Everything shook around them as they went through the halls. In almost no time at all, Jack was fine and ready to walk on his own. "Saxon will be in the main audience room," Jack told them. "He must be stopped."

Martha Jones had pretended to look for a weapon that would kill Saxon. What she had done was spread the story of the Doctor all around the world, creating a vast network of people who would remember him the way he should have been. Saxon might have been able to rapidly age him, but his own satellite network could be used to amplify human thought enough to help the Doctor regain his strength. Even after the Doctor regained his vitality, he still tried to reason with Saxon. It was his way.

That Lucy Saxon shot her husband made a surreal situation even more surreal.

Everything shook and seemed to shimmer. Ariadne clutched Arthur's hand in her left and Eames' in her right. The paradox was ending, and she was going to forget them. A year ago, she had been at NASA in DC, and they were in their respective divisions. None of them would have reason to meet, let alone get to know each other or fall in love.

The shaking stopped, and they all looked around. Saxon was lying on the ground dead. The Doctor was sobbing and Martha Jones was standing next to her sister Tish.

"Is it over?" Eames asked, looking around.

"Yeah, it's over," Jack said with a sigh.

They understood that sigh. While it was good to know that their efforts had helped in some way, they still carried the memories of the past year. Jack could have done without his.

It was chaos in the aftermath, and UNIT wound up debriefing everyone regarding events on the Valiant and the paradox machine. Arthur told her not to be afraid, but Ariadne felt as if she was being treated like a criminal. All she wanted was for Arthur and Eames to hold her and tell her that this wasn't going to end. To her horror, Ariadne burst into tears at several points during her story and the physical exams that UNIT staff insisted on.

She was left to herself afterward, and she called the US Department of Defense. Karen was at her desk, suspicious that a total stranger knew her private number. Ariadne apologized for calling her and hung up quickly. This meant that Mal Cobb, Yusuf, Thompson, the two other men whose names she didn't know and Lynn were all still alive.

She would resign from NASA, she decided as she waited for someone to get her. There was no going back to her former life. She was an emotional wreck at the moment, but it was likely just the stress. She needed time off. Without having to return to NASA, she could figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

Ariadne looked up wearily when the door reopened. She brightened at the sight of Eames and raced to him. He held her tightly as she breathed in the scent of him. "You still remember me, then?" she asked.

"Everyone on the Valiant remembers," Eames murmured. He ran his hand down her back, and her skin seemed to be overly sensitized. "I've sent notice to London."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm done with Torchwood, love. I'm not leaving you. My Gran and Mum are alive again." He smiled at her. "I wouldn't want to leave my family now that I've got them back."

Red in the face, Ariadne looked at him. "I'm planning to quit NASA."

They laughed quietly, still holding each other. "Think Arthur would mind us staying with him? Or your family?" Ariadne asked, her voice small and almost weary.

"You're usually tougher than this," Eames observed.

"I've been feeling off for a few weeks. Tired. Too keyed up, I think. And now..."

"I know what you mean."

The door opened, and Arthur stepped inside. He smiled at them. "I was told you'd be in here."

"Now what?"

"Hopefully," Arthur began, approaching them, "we stay together." Sliding an arm around each of them, he gave them a rueful smile. "It might be premature, but I resigned from UNIT."

He was confused by their laughter. "Arthur, I left Torchwood. Ariadne plans to leave NASA."

Arthur chuckled. "Great minds think alike?"

They took turns kissing each other. "After all this," Arthur said, "UNIT owes us. I said I'd take responsibility for you two. They want to go over the reports one last time before they turn us loose, but I'm sure it'll all be done soon."

After everything was cleared up, Arthur led Eames back to Ariadne. She was crying. "What is it, darling?" Eames asked, concerned.

She handed them her lab results, shaking her head wordlessly. She didn't seem upset, however.

"You're pregnant," Arthur murmured, looking at the results.

"Now I'm glad we were up on the Valiant when it happened," she managed to say after a moment. "I would've lost everyone."

"We're definitely settling down somewhere, then," Eames said. "Torchwood agents have a bloody short lifespan otherwise."

The three of them sat down together, considering the future. It was strange to be able to think long term again, to be aware that there _was_ a future.

Holding onto each other, each were aware that the past year had been difficult. In some ways, it was almost a blessing in disguise; they never would have met otherwise. Now there was a whole future ahead of them. They couldn't wait to explore it together.

The End


End file.
